Meet Thierry

My name is Thierry. I live in Amsterdam, but I was born in a small village in Limburg, near Sittard. I studied Economics at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences in Maastricht and Sittard.

After my studies I moved to New York for an internship. I then worked there for a few years as a private event manager in the hospitality sector. When I returned to the Netherlands, I decided to move into IT. I started an IT traineeship to help me make that switch.

Why I chose Van Lanschot Kempen

I first got to know Van Lanschot Kempen through my IT traineeship. Because of my background in economics, the company immediately appealed to me.

I started to learn more about Van Lanschot Kempen and reached out to several people who already worked here. Everyone I spoke to was very positive about the company and the culture. That enthusiasm was contagious. It made me feel: this is a place I want to be part of.

My first role: Functional Application Manager

I started as a Functional Application Manager in the former Kennis Team Staven, part of the Digital, Advanced Analytics & Technology business unit. In this role I was responsible for the functional management of all HR systems, including Me@Work, our main HR system used by all colleagues.

I worked in a team with seven other functional application managers. Each of us had our own domain of systems.

This was an ideal role to get to know the organization. Every colleague uses Me@Work, so I received user questions from all parts of the company. Because I worked closely with HR, I got to know many different areas of the business. This allowed me to build knowledge and experience that went beyond HR systems alone.

One of the biggest projects I worked on was the implementation of the new underlying system for Me@Work. This project gave me a lot of insight into the IT side of a large implementation like this.

Why I wanted to take the next step

In my role as Functional Application Manager for the HR applications, I was already working with the Private Clients Integration & Authentication (PCIA) team. PCIA was responsible for all HR integrations, especially sending employee data from Me@Work to other systems.

When we moved to the new Me@Work system, all integrations had to be redesigned and rebuilt. As a result, we worked much more closely together at the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025.

After the successful implementation of the new HR system, I asked myself: what is my next step? I was ready for a new challenge. I discussed this with my manager and a few other members of the Management Team. Together, we explored which next step would make sense.

Exactly around that time, a vacancy opened up in the PCIA team. That made things clear to me. After two and a half years as a Functional Application Manager, I started in my new role in the PCIA team in mid‑2025.

My current role: .NET Developer

In my current role, I work as a .NET Developer in a team with six other developers. Our team is mainly responsible for integrations in the private banking domain.

Often, we receive a request or data from one system, apply business logic to it, and then send it on to another system. Examples of systems we work with are the login and signing platform and payment solutions, such as WERO/IDEAL. But there is much more.

The diversity and broad scope of these integrations make the work very interesting. This role also gives me the chance to gain new knowledge and continue to develop myself. AI, for example, is an important topic in our team at the moment. There is a lot of room to explore and develop new solutions in this area.

How I experienced the move to my new role

I experienced the move to my new role within Van Lanschot Kempen as very positive. Both my former manager and my current manager were very supportive and flexible about the timing.

This created room for a proper handover, while I could already focus on my new role. In both my old and new team, my colleagues were friendly, engaged, and helpful. That stood out to me in every conversation I had about my move.

Why internal mobility matters

I believe internal mobility helps to spread knowledge more widely across the organization. It encourages colleagues to keep developing themselves.

It is not only the colleague who changes roles who benefits. A team also gains someone who brings experience from another department. Colleagues can learn from that. In the end, the whole organization benefits.

My tip for anyone considering a next step

Do not hesitate to share your ambitions or your curiosity. Talk about where you would like to go, or what you would like to learn more about.

People are often very willing to think along with you and to help, but they need to know what you are looking for. By starting that conversation, opportunities can appear that you might not have seen otherwise.